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An Irish tourist has drowned in the sea at Prachuap Khiri Khan’s Hua Hin District after a kiteboarding accident during rough seas.

Pol Captain Jaruak Khongkarien, Hua Hin Police Station investigative officer, said on Wednesday that police received a report of a drowning in the sea near the beach at Soi Hua Hin 77. When they arrived, they found that the body of a 40-year-old tourist of Irish nationality known only his first name, “Jonathan”, had already been brought back to the beach.

From interviews with employees of a nearby kiteboard-hire shop, it was found that Jonathan rented a board to surf alone in the sea at noon. Not long after, tourists on the beach saw that he had made a hand signal asking for help, so shop employees rushed to save him.

After reaching Jonathan, the rescue team found that his leg was locked with a buoy used to designate the swimming area. It was reported that there were strong winds and waves that caused the accident and made it very difficult to free the surfer from the buoy.

The rescuers told police that when they finally brought Jonathan back to the shore and tried to revive him, he was already dead.

Investigative officers concluded that Jonathan had died before his body was brought to the shore. The body was sent to Hua Hin Hospital, while officers contacted his family to inform them of his death.

Tourists have been warned against playing watersports in the sea due to the dangerous conditions brought about by the northeastern monsoon and the approaching storm, Kai-Tak.

However, it was reported that many tourists ignored the warning and went kiteboarding at Hua Hin and Pranburi beaches, because the strong winds and waves are preferred by kiteboarders.

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Many tourists ignore the warnings.... and may I ask a simple question... how in the name of whoever are the people who rent these kites or whatever allowed to do so if there is adverse weather ? Will they be prosecuted for irresponsible trading ? Not a chance of course. The dangers that are acceptable , with no need at all for them to be, scares me every time I visit... and I visit quite a lot. The children on motorbikes with no helmets standing , ready to be the first to be smashed to smithereens in an accident. It makes me want to scream at the authorities, sort the obvious before you create controversy with stupid laws about beach smoking !

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Many tourists ignore the warnings.... and may I ask a simple question... how in the name of whoever are the people who rent these kites or whatever allowed to do so if there is adverse weather ? Will they be prosecuted for irresponsible trading ? Not a chance of course. The dangers that are acceptable , with no need at all for them to be, scares me every time I visit... and I visit quite a lot. The children on motorbikes with no helmets standing , ready to be the first to be smashed to smithereens in an accident. It makes me want to scream at the authorities, sort the obvious before you create controversy with stupid laws about beach smoking !

There really isn't a lot of effort made at safety precautions in Thailand.

We just have to accept this as what the Thai people and the government prefer.

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We often rant at Thailand (incl. myself) for not issuing proper warnings to tourists.

But what are all the global embassies doing besides enjoying the juicy tax-free and other diplomatic privileges ?

Hopefully the embassies in Thailand do keep in touch with local hazards like roads, weather, scams etc. ?

Why don't they forward the warnings to their national carriers ? The information could then be conveyed and updated with elementarily drafted pamphlets, handed over by the national carriers to their passengers going to Thailand ?

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In my nearly 20 years of coming to Thailand I have not experienced these temperatures or winds in HH although I know at Xmas it is always more choppy but this is I think unknown in this generally moderate area.

We pass on our real deep sympathies to family and all who know him.

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It must be assumed that the man understood his risk, but like some, loved this particular sport and the increased exhilaration of the present conditions. I know that when I was younger, I took some chances that many considered extreme. He ultimately lost to the odds, and that is most unfortunate. But there are those of us who prefer to not have some institution define how we live and the risks we take, as long as we are not putting others at risk, which in this event appears to be the case (aside, obviously, from the rescue attempt). I do hope that he was flying high up until the moment of his unfortunate accident. And I hope those he left behind can find a way to understand his choice despite the pain of their loss.

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Fake news report ?! Let’s state the correct information as discussed in other forums and Facebook pages.

He was one of us living here im Hua Hin and an experienced kite surfer. the sea and wind conditions were rough but not unusual for us and they did not represent a danger as such. He also did not rent his equipment but was using his own. There is no surveillance on the beach that day as every Wednesday (..) but it is not the issue as it happened so fast anyway.

The danger came from the presence of buoys all along the beach which makes kitesurfing a lot more dangerous as lines can get tangled in them and the kiter can be trapped if he does not reacted very quickly and pulls the security system in time.

While the kiting community raises the issues of the dangers of these buoys many times, they were many kiters on holidays and locals sometimes not realising the threat who continued to kite.

A real drama for our community here and for the family. Please show some respect by sticking to the facts, RIP a friend.

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Many tourists ignore the warnings.... and may I ask a simple question... how in the name of whoever are the people who rent these kites or whatever allowed to do so if there is adverse weather ? Will they be prosecuted for irresponsible trading ? Not a chance of course. The dangers that are acceptable , with no need at all for them to be, scares me every time I visit... and I visit quite a lot. The children on motorbikes with no helmets standing , ready to be the first to be smashed to smithereens in an accident. It makes me want to scream at the authorities, sort the obvious before you create controversy with stupid laws about beach smoking !